A closet flange (also called toilet flange or toilet closet flange) is a pipe fitting that mounts a toilet to the floor and connects the toilet to a waste pipe. The closet flange is a connecting interface between the toilet, the floor structure and a wastepipe. The closet flange is mounted on top of the subfloor that is under the final tiling or finished floor surface and the toilet is bolted to the flange. Usually the flange has rectangular holes that allow rectangular headed bolts to slide into. These bolts attach the toilet to the flange and the square heads prevent the bolts from turning when the bolts are tightened down. The current methodology of the installation of toilets provides no support under these bolts and toilet flange, often making it difficult to ensure the stability of the bolt and the toilet flange, especially when installing or removing the toilet bowl at a future date. The flange also has holes that allow long screws to fasten it into the floor structure. The current methodology provides no support when these screws are attached.
When installing a closet flange, the height of the flange is essential. The height of the flange has an effect on the height of the toilet bowl, and toilet's proper connection and relationship to the finished floor. This relationship is essential for the stability of the toilet bowl. The closet flange must be installed either flush with the tiles or up a ¼″ to ensure proper installation. A proper installation prevents rocking of the toilet and eliminates pressure placed on the waste pipe which, if installed improperly will create further problems down the road. The height of the flange is also an important factor depending on the type of tiles or other floor covers, such as hardwood, vinyl or stone that are to be used. With thicker tiles for example the flange has to be installed in a higher position than with thinner tiles. For thicker hardwoods the flange must be installed in a higher position than thinner hardwoods.
The current art knows circular closet flange spacers. The primary purpose of these circular spacers is to install them on top of an existing closet flange to raise the height of the flange. Such a system provides no support under the existing closet flange. Accordingly, such circular spacers solve the problem of lifting the flange to the floor level, but these devices overlook other problems in the current art.
Because closet flange is circular an installer has to cut a circular pattern in the tile or other finished floor coverings, such as hardwood, when installing the floor covering around the circular flange. Cutting a circular pattern on the tiles is disproportionally time taking. Additionally loss of material is often experienced as tiles tend to break during the cutting of a circular hole or improper cuts of the finished material cause improper fitting. Often times an installer of the floor material will remove the plumber's bolts and try to slide the tiles or other floor material under the closet flange—creating improper connection of the closet flange to the subfloor. Furthermore, when the toilet is installed, the plumber must spend time removing the grout around the closet flange to properly secure the toilet. Breaking a tile is likely to happen. If the bolts have been removed, the plumber must spend time correcting the installation before setting the toilet bowl in place. A circular closet flange spacer does not bring any solution to this problem.
Moreover, the circular flange spacers can be easily used only in new construction projects where the flange is not yet installed in its place. In renovation projects where the flange is already in place but needs support, the currently existing circular spacers require the installer to remove the closet flange, then install the circular spacer and then reinstall the closet flange again.
Furthermore, as the toilet bowl is attached to the flange with the bolts and not to the floor it is utterly important that the flange has enough support beneath it. A circular spacer does not provide the needed support since its intended purpose is to sit on top of an existing closet flange.
The invention according to this disclosure provides solutions to all the above mentioned flaws of the prior art and others.
European Patent Application number 2060685 provides a mounting plate with a square shape and a recess for a rim in a round drain bowl. This device may partially solve the problem of cutting circular pattern on a tile or finished floor surfaces, but it does not allow any adjustment of the height if the flange. Moreover, this device can be only used with drain bowls having the rim that fits into the recess, and therefore it is not useful for regularly and commonly used closet flanges. The design of the device disclosed does not allow this drain to be adapted to use with a closet flange. Furthermore, the square shape is integral with the design of the drain and therefore it is not a closet flange but a drain. A drain cannot act as a closet flange, even if a closet flange may act as a drain.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,196,229 provides an adjustable floor drain that allows adjustment of a grate of a drain to be raised to the level of new floor. This is not a closet flange, nor does it provide any support to a closet flange.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,915 provides a toilet floor flange, where there is a square flange member. However, the flange member is integrated to a sleeve member. This floor flange fails to provide any support for the bolts that attach the toilet bowl. The current methodology of installing closet flanges is the same as shown in this patent. The flange is directly mounted to the subfloor and allows no adjustment in its height (see e.g. FIG. 1 of the patent). Further it places the flange below the allowable height and the toilet must be placed prior to the floor finish and then have the floor finish brought up to the toilet. This is a significant departure and creates more work for the finished floor installer, increasing cost, waste, labor and decreasing productivity. The invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,915 was developed to solve the problem of cutting a round hole for the waste pipe, and instead cutting a square hole. However, installation of this device would require it to be raised in height leaving no positive support underneath it and creating the same problems that exist in circular closet flange installations. Furthermore, since the device disclosed in this patent is a closet flange, it provides no support for the toilet hold down bolts. In fact, by cutting a square hole in the subfloor creates a greater chance for the toilet hold down bolts to be lost or improperly installed, which again creates additional time and labor requirements to correct the installation.
The invention described in this disclosure solves the above problems and others. The invention according to this discloser reduces labor, increases support to the toilet bowl, decreases damage to the flange and pipes. Furthermore, the device of this invention can be used in new construction projects as well as in reconstruction projects without a need to remove the already installed closet flange before installing the support of this invention.